Being prepared for acculturation

On the importance of the first months after immigrants enter a new culture

Bibliographic Data

ID8095889
AuthorsMarcella Ramelli (Department of Psychology University of Basel Switzerland), Arnd Florack (0000-0001-9906-0043, Department of Psychology University of Vienna Austria, corresponding author), Ankica Kosic (0000-0003-0114-1879, Department of Psychology University of Rome Italy), Anette Rohmann (0000-0003-4757-1460, Department of Psychology University of Hagen Germany)
Year2012
Volume48
Issue3
Pages363-373
Publication date2012-04-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7594 • E-ISSN: 1464-066X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00207594.2012.656129
PMID22494270
OpenAlexW2038927992
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited33

We hypothesized that perceived communication effectiveness at arrival and initial friendships with members of the receiving society during the first months after arrival in a new country have a long-term effect on the development of acculturation orientations and that this effect is pronounced for individuals with a high need for cognitive closure (NCC). We examined the hypotheses in a study with Spanish-speaking immigrants in Switzerland (n = 146) and in Italy (n = 147). We asked participants to indicate their current attitude to contact with the receiving society and cultural maintenance and report retrospectively their perceived communication effectiveness at arrival and initial friendships. In line with the predictions, the perceptions of high communication effectiveness at arrival and friendships with members of the receiving society during the initial phase in the new culture were positively correlated with the current attitude to contact with the receiving society assessed 7 years after arrival on average. Also, initial friendships with members of the receiving society were negatively correlated with present cultural maintenance. Moreover, with an increase in NCC, these correlations increased

Acculturation · Closure (psychology · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Immigration · Perception · Political science · Psychiatry · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Clinical Psychology · Law · Social Psychology